Anthony Chickillo

AnthonyChickillo will be back in Pittsburgh next season. Pro Football Talk reports that the outside linebacker has signed his $1.907MM restricted free agent tender with the Steelers (via ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Twitter).

The 2015 sixth-round pick out of Miami has spent his entire three-year career with the Steelers. He appeared in only seven games during his rookie campaign, but he played a much bigger role for the team in 2016, compiling 2.5 sacks. He appeared in a career-high 16 games (two starts) in 2017, collecting 19 tackles and three sacks. Pro Football Focus wasn’t particularly fond of his performance last season, as his grade would have ranked him in the bottom-10 among edge defenders had he earned enough snaps.

Chickillo will presumably slide back into his rotational pass rusher role in 2018. The 25-year-old will also serve as insurance behind starting outside linebackers BudDupree and T.J. Watt.

Steelers linebacker Anthony Chickillo is officially back in the fold. The 25-year-old has inked his restricted tender, a source tells Mike Florio of PFT (on Twitter).

Chickillo, a 2015 sixth-round pick, appeared in seven games for the Steelers as a rookie but primarily contributed on special teams. In his sophomore year, he stepped into a larger role with the team. Chickillo has appeared in all but one of the club’s regular season games over the past two years and has tallied 38 total tackles and 5.5 sacks in that span.

Defensive tackle Ricky Jean-Francois signed with the Packers in March, and he spoke about that decision Thursday, telling Stu Courney of PackersNews.com:“To get that phone call that the Green Bay Packers want you is rare. It’s rare that you see them go outside and pick guys up and if they do, it’s for a reason.” Jean-Francois is right that the Packers typically aren’t the most aggressive team in free agency. They aren’t averse to signing released players, however, because adding them doesn’t cost compensatory draft picks. That was the case with the 30-year-old Jean-Francois, whom the Redskins cut loose a week before he caught on with Green Bay for $3MM. His decision came down to the Packers and Seahawks, and it seems Aaron Rodgers‘ presence tipped the scales in the former’s favor. “Just seeing a quarterback like him year in and year out be so successful … he’s been so consistent getting to the playoffs,” commented Jean-Francois.

More from Green Bay and two other NFL cities:

After Branden Albert ended his holdout and reported to Jaguars minicamp earlier this month, vice president of football operations Tom Coughlin told the left tackle that he looked heavier than before, according to Roy Cummings of Florida Football Insiders. Moreover, the out-of-shape Albert failed to impress the team’s coaches on the field, per Cummings, who notes that he’s far from a lock to start. Albert, whom the Jaguars acquired via trade from the Dolphins over the winter, will have to beat out second-rounder Cam Robinson. For now, Robinson is the front-runner for the job, suggests Cummings. At right tackle, Jacksonville has Jermey Parnell – a 16-game starter last year who ranked 31st among Pro Football Focus’ 78 qualified tackles (Albert was 65th).

We may not have seen the last of Brett Favre in a notable NFL role. The Hall of Fame quarterback told ESPN Wisconsin’s Wilde & Tausch on Thursday that he’s interested in working as a coach or a general manager down the line (via Richard Ryman of PackersNews.com). “I would say I’d never say never,” Favre said. “I believe that would be a dream job, working as a coach there or in some form of administration.” Favre would prefer to serve in some capacity with the Packers, with whom he starred from 1992-2007.

One of Arthur Moats or Anthony Chickillo could be in jeopardy of losing his roster spot with the Steelers, writes Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. With those two, T.J. Watt,James Harrison, Bud Dupree and seventh-rounder Keion Adams, the Steelers will enter training camp with six outside linebackers and only four or five spots. Watt, Harrison and Dupree are shoo-ins to make the roster, and whether both Moats and Chickillo will join them will come down to if the Steelers decide to deploy a five-OLB rotation. Meanwhile, Adams will likely head to the practice squad. Moats and Chickillo were both somewhat prominent members of Pittsburgh’s defense last year. Moats played 396 snaps, started in five of 16 appearances and picked up 3.5 sacks, while Chickillo amassed 316 snaps and 2.5 sacks in 15 games (seven starts).

After making a name for himself in 2016, there was no way the Steelers were going to let linebacker Anthony Chickillo get away. The team has re-signed the exclusive rights free agent to a one-year deal, as Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.

Chickillo, a 2015 sixth-round pick, appeared in seven games for the Steelers as a rookie but primarily contributed on special teams. This year, he played in 15 games and made seven starts. on the year, he had 24 total tackles, two forced fumbles, and 2.5 sacks. Still just 24, Chickillo has played his way into a significant role on the 2017 team.

Here are Wednesday’s minor signings, cuts, and other transactions from across the NFL:

The Patriots released linebacker Dekoda Watson, as Mike Reiss of ESPN.com tweets. The veteran played primarily on special teams in the last two games.

Earlier Updates:

It was a busy day for the Texans, who overhauled their linebacker corps in an effort to improve the club’s special teams play. According to a press release, the Texans promoted ILB Max Bullough from their own practice squad, signed ILB Brian Peters from the Vikings’ practice squad, and signed OLB Kourtnei Brown from the Bucs’ practice squad. As Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle tweets, the club placed linebackers Mike Mohamed and Carlos Thompson on injured reserve.

The Jets have parted ways with one of their draft picks from this past May, waiving seventh-round defensive tackle Deon Simon today, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). Simon, 25, has yet to see any action in a regular season NFL game.

Having cut running back Mike James earlier in the week, the Buccaneers had an open roster spot, and used that opening to promote tackle Reid Fragel from their practice squad, according to a team release. Fragel initially survived Tampa Bay’s cutdown to 53 players, but was dropped and signed to the practice squad after the Bucs claimed several players off waivers.

The Steelers made a change to their defense today, announcing that they’ve cut defensive end Caushaud Lyons, promoting linebacker Anthony Chickillo to their active roster to replace him.

While many teams filled up their 10-man practice squads on Sunday, plenty of teams didn’t confirm their moves right away, or kept a few spots open on those units. On top of that, at least one club that signed 10 players to its taxi squad on Sunday has already made several changes, bringing in new players and jettisoning players who didn’t even spend 24 hours on the squad.

We’ll have updates on Monday’s AFC practice squad signings and cuts in this space, with teams listed in alphabetical order. When new moves occur, we’ll bump this post back to the top of the page. Here’s a round-up of today’s moves:

Listed below are the Sunday roster moves for the four AFC North teams. Following the 53-man roster cutdown deadline yesterday, many teams will make slight tweaks to their rosters, claiming players off waivers or signing guys who clear waivers. Those transactions for the Ravens, Bengals, Browns, and Steelers are noted below.

Additionally, as of 11:00am today, teams can begin constructing their 10-man practice squads. For the 2014 and 2015 seasons, changes were made to practice squad rules that allow teams to carry eight players instead of 10, and the eligibility requirements for those extra two spots were also loosened. You can check out our glossary entry on practice squads to brush up on those changes, as well as all the other guidelines that govern the 10-man units, whose players practice with the team but aren’t eligible to suit up on Sundays.

Here are Sunday’s AFC North transactions, which will continue to be updated throughout the day:

The Steelers have signed a pair of draft picks, inking fourth-round cornerback Dorian Grant and sixth-round linebacker Anthony Chickillo to deals, according to Mark Kaboly of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (Twitter link).

With Grant and Chickillo aboard, the Steelers have now signed three of eight picks from their 2015 draft class. They came to an agreement with sixth-round defensive tackle L.T. Walton last week.

The Falcons have visited the University of Miami to get a closer look at some of the draft’s most intriguing prospects. The team will workout Phillip Dorsett, Duke Johnson, Clive Walford, Ladarius Gunter, and Ereck Flowers, according to D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (via Twitter). He also writes the team will meet with Denzel Perryman, who will not be working out for the team.

The team also worked out defensive lineman Anthony Chickillo while in Coral Gables, according to Ledbetter (via Twitter).

Here are a few more notes from around the NFC South:

The Buccaneers are expected to take Jameis Winston with the first-overall pick, and if there were any doubts about how the fans would react, those were put to rest Thursday. Winston’s appearance on a video board during the team’s Q&A session in front of fans drew a roar of applause, the loudest of the night according to Roy Cummings of the Tampa Tribune.

The Saints will host Louisville receiver DeVante Parker for a pre-draft visit, according to Katherine Terrell of NOLA.com. Terrell outlines some of Parker’s strengths and weaknesses, noting that Parker will likely be drafted in the early-to-mid first round. The Saints select 13th overall, but after drafting Brandin Cooks last year, might look elsewhere early in the draft.

The Panthers attempted to bolster their secondary by signing cornerback Charles Tillman. Tillman’s one-year contract is worth $1.75MM, which includes a $350,000 signing bonus, $150,000 roster bonus, and $15,625 in per gamer roster bonuses, according to Aaron Wilson of the Baltimore Sun (via Twitter). Wilson adds that the Tillman deal is expected to include incentives to increase the total value (via Twitter).